General terms and conditions of sale

The ge­ne­ral terms and con­di­ti­ons of sa­le of SAH shall ap­p­ly ex­clu­si­ve­ly; any con­flic­ting terms and con­di­ti­ons of the Cust­o­m­er or terms and con­di­ti­ons which de­via­te from the terms and con­di­ti­ons of sa­le of SAH shall not be re­co­gnis­ed by SAH, un­less SAH has ex­press­ly agreed in wri­ting to their ap­p­lica­bi­li­ty. Even if SAH car­ri­es out the de­li­very to the Cust­o­m­er wi­thout re­ser­va­ti­on in the know­ledge of terms and con­di­ti­ons of the Cust­o­m­er which con­flict with or de­via­te from the terms and con­di­ti­ons of sa­le of SAH, the ge­ne­ral terms and con­di­ti­ons of sa­le of SAH shall al­so still ap­p­ly in such a ca­se.

2.

All agree­ments which are con­clu­ded bet­ween SAH and the Cust­o­m­er for the pur­po­se of per­for­mance of the contract shall be re­cor­ded in this contract in wri­ting.

The ge­ne­ral terms and con­di­ti­ons of sa­le of SAH shall al­so ap­p­ly to all fu­ture tran­sac­tions with its cust­o­m­ers.

Sec­tion 2 - Of­fer, of­fer do­cu­ments

1.

Should the or­der qua­li­fy as a le­gal­ly ef­fec­tive of­fer, SAH shall be able to ac­cept this wi­t­hin two weeks.

2.

SAH shall re­tain its ow­nership and co­py­right in re­spect of images, drawings, cal­cu­la­ti­ons and other do­cu­ments. This shall al­so ap­p­ly in re­spect of such writ­ten do­cu­ments which are iden­ti­fied as "con­fi­den­ti­al". Pri­or to for­war­ding the­se to third par­ties, the Cust­o­m­er shall re­qui­re the ex­press writ­ten agree­ment of SAH.

Sec­tion 3 - Pri­ces, pay­ment terms

1.

Un­less other­wi­se sta­ted in the or­der con­fir­ma­ti­on, the pri­ces of SAH shall ap­p­ly "ex fac­to­ry", ex­clu­si­ve of pa­cka­ging. This shall be char­ged se­pa­ra­te­ly.

2.

The sta­tu­to­ry va­lue ad­ded tax is not in­clu­ded in the pri­ces. This shall be char­ged se­pa­ra­te­ly to the sta­tu­to­ry amount on the day of in­voi­cing.

3.

The de­duc­tion of dis­counts shall re­qui­re a se­pa­ra­te writ­ten agree­ment.

4.

Un­less other­wi­se sta­ted in the or­der con­fir­ma­ti­on, the net purcha­se pri­ce (wi­thout de­duc­tion) shall be due for pay­ment wi­t­hin 30 days of the day of in­voi­cing.

5.

The Cust­o­m­er shall on­ly be en­t­it­led to rights of set-off if its coun­ter­claims ha­ve be­en le­gal­ly re­co­gnis­ed, are un­dis­pu­ted or ha­ve be­en ack­now­led­ged by SAH. Other­wi­se, the Cust­o­m­er shall on­ly be en­t­it­led to as­sert its right of re­ten­ti­on if its coun­ter­claim re­fers to the sa­me contrac­tu­al re­la­ti­ons­hip.

Sec­tion 4 - De­li­very ti­me

1.

The com­men­ce­ment of the de­li­very date sta­ted by SAH shall be sub­ject to the cla­ri­fi­ca­ti­on of all tech­ni­cal ques­ti­ons.

2.

The com­p­li­an­ce with the de­li­very ob­li­ga­ti­on of SAH shall al­so re­qui­re the ti­me­ly and pro­per ful­fil­ment of the ob­li­ga­ti­ons in­cum­bent on the Cust­o­m­er. The plea of non-per­for­mance of the contract shall be re­ser­ved.

3.

Should the Cust­o­m­er en­ter ac­cep­tan­ce de­fault or should it cul­pa­b­ly breach other co-ope­ra­ti­on ob­li­ga­ti­ons, SAH shall be en­t­it­led to de­mand com­pen­sa­ti­on for the los­ses in­cur­red by it to this extent, in­clu­ding any ad­di­tio­nal ex­pen­ses. Fur­ther claims or rights shall re­main re­ser­ved.

4.

Should the re­qui­re­ments of Pa­ra­graph 3 be pre­sent, the risk of pos­si­ble de­struc­tion or pos­si­ble de­te­rio­ra­ti­on of the ob­ject of purcha­se shall be trans­fer­red to the Cust­o­m­er at the ti­me when it en­t­e­red ac­cep­tan­ce de­fault or debtor's de­lay.

5.

SAH shall in­cur lia­bi­li­ty in ac­cor­dance with the sta­tu­to­ry pro­vi­si­ons should the un­der­ly­ing sa­les agree­ment be a fi­xed date tran­sac­tion. SAH shall al­so in­cur lia­bi­li­ty in ac­cor­dance with the sta­tu­to­ry pro­vi­si­ons should the Cust­o­m­er be en­t­it­led to as­sert, as a re­sult of a de­li­very de­lay for which SAH is re­s­pon­si­ble, that its in­te­rest in con­ti­nued per­for­mance of the contract has cea­sed.

6.

SAH shall al­so in­cur lia­bi­li­ty in ac­cor­dance with the sta­tu­to­ry pro­vi­si­ons should the de­li­very de­lay be due to an in­ten­tio­nal or gross ne­gli­gent breach of contract for which SAH is re­s­pon­si­ble; any cul­pa­bi­li­ty on the part of re­pre­sen­ta­ti­ves or vi­ca­rious agents of SAH shall be at­tri­bu­ted to SAH. Should the de­li­very de­lay be due to a gross ne­gli­gent breach of contract for which SAS is re­s­pon­si­ble, the lia­bi­li­ty to pay da­mages on the part of SAH shall be li­mi­ted to the los­ses which are fo­re­see­able and ty­pi­cal.

7.

SAH shall al­so in­cur lia­bi­li­ty in ac­cor­dance with the sta­tu­to­ry pro­vi­si­ons if the de­li­very de­lay is due to cul­pa­ble breach of a si­gni­fi­cant contrac­tu­al ob­li­ga­ti­on. In such a ca­se, the lia­bi­li­ty to pay da­mages shall, howe­ver, be li­mi­ted to the los­ses which are fo­re­see­able and ty­pi­cal.

Sec­tion 5 - Trans­fer of risk, pa­cka­ging costs

1.

Un­less other­wi­se sta­ted in the or­der con­fir­ma­ti­on, the de­li­very shall be agreed as being "ex-fac­to­ry".

2.

Se­pa­ra­te agree­ments shall ap­p­ly in re­spect of the ta­king back of pa­cka­ging.

3.

Should the Cust­o­m­er so wish, SAH will co­ver the de­li­very by trans­por­ta­ti­on in­suran­ce. The costs in this re­spect shall be bor­ne by the Cust­o­m­er.

Sec­tion 6 - Lia­bi­li­ty for de­fects

1.

De­fect claims of the Cust­o­m­er shall re­qui­re that the Cust­o­m­er has com­plied with its in­spec­tion and com­plaint ob­li­ga­ti­ons pre­scri­bed by com­mer­ci­al law. De­via­ti­ons in terms of di­men­si­on, weight and qua­li­ty shall be per­mit­ted in ac­cor­dance with the ap­p­lica­ble norms (for ex­amp­le EN, ASTM, API, JIS etc) or the ap­p­lica­ble prac­tice and shall not re­pre­sent any de­fect. The weights shall be de­ter­mi­ned on in­dus­tri­al sca­les and shall then be bin­ding for in­voi­cing.

2.

Should a de­fect in the ob­ject of purcha­se be pre­sent, the Cust­o­m­er shall, ac­cor­ding to its choice, be en­t­it­led eit­her to sup­ple­men­ta­ry per­for­mance in the form of cor­rec­tion of the de­fect or the de­li­very of a new, de­fect-free item. In ca­se of the cor­rec­tion of de­fects or a re­pla­ce­ment de­li­very, SAH shall be ob­li­ged to be­ar all costs which are ne­cessa­ry for the pur­po­se of sup­ple­men­ta­ry per­for­mance, in par­ti­cu­lar trans­por­ta­ti­on, road, work and ma­te­ri­al costs, as long as the­se are not in­crea­sed by the fact that the de­li­ver­ed goods we­re brought to a lo­ca­ti­on other than the place of per­for­mance.

3.

Should the sup­ple­men­ta­ry per­for­mance fail, the Cust­o­m­er shall, ac­cor­ding to its choice, be en­t­it­led to re­scind the contract or de­mand a re­duc­tion.

4.

SAH shall in­cur lia­bi­li­ty in ac­cor­dance with the ge­ne­ral pro­vi­si­ons, should the Cust­o­m­er as­sert da­mages claims which are due to in­tent or gross ne­gli­gence, in­clu­ding in­tent or gross ne­gli­gence on the part of re­pre­sen­ta­ti­ves or vi­ca­rious agents of SAH. Un­less in­ten­tio­nal breach of contract is at­tri­bu­ted to SAH, the lia­bi­li­ty to pay da­mages shall be li­mi­ted to los­ses which are fo­re­see­able and ty­pi­cal.

5.

SAH shall in­cur lia­bi­li­ty in ac­cor­dance with the sta­tu­to­ry pro­vi­si­ons should it cul­pa­b­ly breach a si­gni­fi­cant contrac­tu­al ob­li­ga­ti­on. Al­so in such ca­ses, the lia­bi­li­ty to pay da­mages shall, howe­ver, be li­mi­ted to los­ses which are fo­re­see­able and ty­pi­cal. A si­gni­fi­cant contrac­tu­al ob­li­ga­ti­on shall be pre­sent if the breach of du­ty re­fers to an ob­li­ga­ti­on on who­se ful­fil­ment the Cust­o­m­er has re­li­ed and may al­so re­ly.

6.

Other­wi­se, should the Cust­o­m­er be en­t­it­led to claim da­mages in lieu of per­for­mance due to a ne­gli­gent breach of ob­li­ga­ti­on, the lia­bi­li­ty of SAH shall be li­mi­ted to reim­bur­se­ment of the loss which is fo­re­see­able and ty­pi­cal.

7.

The lia­bi­li­ty due to cul­pa­ble in­ju­ry to life, bo­dy and health shall re­main un­af­fec­ted. The sa­me shall ap­p­ly in re­spect of the man­da­to­ry lia­bi­li­ty in ac­cor­dance with the Ger­man Pro­duct Lia­bi­li­ty Act (Pro­dukt­haf­tungs­ge­setz).

The li­mi­ta­ti­on pe­ri­od for de­fect claims shall be twel­ve months, cal­cu­la­ted from the ti­me of trans­fer of risk. This shall not ap­p­ly should the ob­ject of purcha­se be nor­mal­ly used in a buil­ding and ha­ve cau­sed the de­fect.

Sec­tion 7 - To­tal lia­bi­li­ty

1.

Ad­di­tio­nal lia­bi­li­ty to pay da­mages other than that sta­ted in Sec­tion 6 shall be ex­clu­ded, re­gard­less of the le­gal na­tu­re of the as­ser­ted claim. In par­ti­cu­lar, this shall ap­p­ly in re­spect of da­mages claims due to fault at the ti­me of con­clu­si­on of the contract, other bre­aches of ob­li­ga­ti­ons or due to ac­tions in tort for the reim­bur­se­ment of pro­per­ty da­ma­ge due to un­aut­ho­ri­sed acts.

2.

The li­mi­ta­ti­on in ac­cor­dance with Pa­ra­graph 1 shall al­so ap­p­ly should the Cust­o­m­er, ins­tead of a claim for com­pen­sa­ti­on, de­mand the re­pla­ce­ment of was­ted ex­pen­ses in place of per­for­mance.

3.

Should the lia­bi­li­ty to pay da­mages in re­la­ti­on to SAH be ex­clu­ded or re­stric­ted, this shall al­so ap­p­ly in re­spect of the per­so­nal lia­bi­li­ty of the workers, em­ployees, col­le­agues, re­pre­sen­ta­ti­ves and vi­ca­rious agents of SAH.

Sec­tion 8 - Se­cu­ri­ty of re­ser­va­ti­on of ow­nership

1.

SAH shall re­tain ow­nership of the ob­ject of purcha­se un­til re­ce­ipt of all pay­ments un­der the de­li­very contract. In ca­se of be­ha­viour on the part of the Cust­o­m­er which is in breach of contract, in par­ti­cu­lar in ca­se of pay­ment de­fault, SAH shall be en­t­it­led to re­ta­ke pos­ses­si­on of the ob­ject of purcha­se. Should SAH re­ta­ke pos­ses­si­on of the ob­ject of purcha­se, this shall re­pre­sent a re­scis­si­on of the contract. Fol­lo­wing the re­ta­king of pos­ses­si­on of the ob­ject of purcha­se, SAH shall be en­t­it­led to uti­li­se it. The pro­ceeds from the uti­li­sa­ti­on shall be set off against the lia­bi­li­ties of the Cust­o­m­er, mi­nus re­a­sonable uti­li­sa­ti­on costs.

2.

The Cust­o­m­er shall be ob­li­ged to tre­at the ob­ject of purcha­se with ca­re. In par­ti­cu­lar, it shall be ob­li­ged to suf­fi­ci­ent­ly in­su­re it against fi­re and wa­ter da­ma­ge and theft to its ori­gi­nal va­lue.

3.

In ca­se of sei­zu­res and other third par­ty at­tacks, the Cust­o­m­er must pro­vi­de im­me­dia­te writ­ten no­ti­fi­ca­ti­on to SAH, so that SAH can bring a third par­ty ac­tion against exe­cu­ti­on. Should the third par­ty not be in the po­si­ti­on of being able to reim­bur­se SAH in re­spect of the court costs and out-of-court costs of a third par­ty ac­tion against exe­cu­ti­on, the Cust­o­m­er shall in­cur lia­bi­li­ty in re­la­ti­on to SAH for the loss in­cur­red by the lat­ter.

4.

The Cust­o­m­er shall be en­t­it­led to sell on the ob­ject of purcha­se in the cour­se of pro­per busi­ness dea­lings. Howe­ver, it shall now as­sign, to SAH, all claims to the extent of the fi­nal in­voice amount (in­clu­ding va­lue ad­ded tax) of the claim which are ac­crued to it against its con­su­mers or third par­ties as a re­sult of the sel­ling on, re­gard­less of whe­ther the ob­ject of purcha­se is sold on wi­thout pro­ces­sing or fol­lo­wing pro­ces­sing. The Cust­o­m­er shall al­so re­main aut­ho­ri­sed to collect the claim fol­lo­wing the as­si­gn­ment. The aut­ho­ri­ty of SAH to collect the claim its­elf shall not be af­fec­ted. Howe­ver, SAH shall be ob­li­ged not to collect the claim pro­vi­ded that the Cust­o­m­er com­plies with its pay­ment ob­li­ga­ti­ons in con­nec­tion with the re­ve­nues re­cei­ved, does not en­ter pay­ment de­fault and, in par­ti­cu­lar, no ap­p­li­ca­ti­on is sub­mit­ted for the opening of sett­le­ment of in­sol­vency pro­cee­dings and no sus­pen­si­on of pay­ments is pre­sent. Howe­ver, should this be the ca­se, SAH shall be able to de­mand that the Cust­o­m­er pro­vi­des no­ti­fi­ca­ti­on of the as­si­gned claims and their debtors, pro­vi­des all ne­cessa­ry in­for­ma­ti­on for their collec­tion, hands over the as­so­cia­ted do­cu­ments and no­ti­fies the debtors (third par­ties) of the as­si­gn­ment.

5.

The pro­ces­sing or re­mo­del­ling of the ob­ject of purcha­se by the Cust­o­m­er shall al­ways be car­ri­ed out for SAH. Should the ob­ject of purcha­se be pro­ces­sed with other ob­jects which do not be­long to SAH, SAH shall ac­qui­re co-ow­nership in the new item to the re­la­ti­ons­hip of the va­lue of the ob­ject of purcha­se (fi­nal in­voice amount in­clu­ding va­lue ad­ded tax) to the other pro­ces­sed ob­jects at the ti­me of pro­ces­sing. Other­wi­se, the sa­me shall ap­p­ly to the ob­ject crea­ted by the pro­ces­sing as to the ob­ject of purcha­se which is de­li­ver­ed un­der re­ser­va­ti­on.

6.

Should the ob­ject of purcha­se be ins­e­pa­ra­b­ly mi­xed with other ob­jects which do not be­long to SAH, SAH shall ac­qui­re co-ow­nership in the new item to the re­la­ti­ons­hip of the va­lue of the ob­ject of purcha­se (fi­nal in­voice amount in­clu­ding va­lue ad­ded tax) to the other mi­xed ob­jects at the ti­me of mi­xing. Should the mi­xing ta­ke place in such a way that the item of the Cust­o­m­er is to be con­side­red as the prin­ciple item, it is her­e­by agreed that the Cust­o­m­er shall trans­fer pro­por­tio­nal ow­nership to SAH. The Cust­o­m­er shall keep the so­le ow­nership or co-ow­nership which oc­cur­red in such a way safe for SAH.

7.

The Cust­o­m­er shall al­so as­sign, to SAH, the claims for the se­cu­ring of claims of SAH against it which are ac­crued against a third par­ty due to the com­bi­na­ti­on of the ob­ject of purcha­se with land.

8.

SAH shall be ob­li­ged, on the re­quest of the Cust­o­m­er to re­lease the se­cu­ri­ties to which it is en­t­it­led if the rea­li­sa­ble va­lue of the se­cu­ri­ties of SAH ex­ceeds the claim to be se­cu­red by mo­re than 10%. SAH shall be re­s­pon­si­ble for choo­sing the se­cu­ri­ties to be re­leased.

Sec­tion 9 - Place of ju­ris­dic­tion, ap­p­lica­ble law, place of per­for­mance, par­ti­al in­va­li­di­ty

1.

Should the Cust­o­m­er be a busi­ness­man, a le­gal per­son un­der pu­blic law or a spe­cial fund un­der pu­blic law, the place of busi­ness of SAH shall be the place of ju­ris­dic­tion. Howe­ver, SAH shall al­so be en­t­it­led to bring a law­su­it against the Cust­o­m­er at the court of its place of do­mi­ci­le.

2.

The law of the Fe­deral Re­pu­blic of Ger­ma­ny shall ap­p­ly to the­se ge­ne­ral terms and con­di­ti­ons of sa­le, as well as to tho­se contracts which are con­clu­ded bet­ween SAH and the Cust­o­m­er and to which the­se ge­ne­ral terms and con­di­ti­ons of sa­le ap­p­ly. The ap­p­lica­bi­li­ty of the United Na­ti­ons Con­ven­ti­on con­cerning the In­ter­na­tio­nal Sa­le of Goods shall be ex­clu­ded.

3.

Un­less other­wi­se sta­ted in the or­der con­fir­ma­ti­on, the place of busi­ness of SAH shall be the place of per­for­mance.

4.

Should any in­di­vi­du­al clau­ses of the­se ge­ne­ral terms and con­di­ti­ons of sa­le be in­ef­fec­tive, the re­ma­in­der of the contract shall re­main ef­fec­tive.